By Sharon Calvert, from Eye on Tampa Bay It should come as no surprise that voters and taxpayers are not funding promotion of the grossly misnamed All for Transportation (AFT) 30-year 14% rail tax hike. The Tampa Bay Partnership, leader of the local rail cartel, has been complicit with …
By Jim Bleyer Yayoi Kusama’s spectacular “Infinity Mirrors” exhibition enters the final stage of its two-year North American tour de force November 18 at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art and demand for tickets to the multi-media show is soaring. Dubbed by many as the art world’s “Hamilton”, the exhibition …
By Jim Bleyer The first order of business for Ron DeSantis and Andrew Gillum: mending fences. With Jeanette Nuñez and Chris King, the gubernatorial hopefuls chose solid, if not bold, imaginative picks for their running mates last week. But they face monumental missionary work after bitter, divisive primaries. Public …
By Tom Rask, Tampa Bay Guardian Yesterday morning, a state agency told the Guardian that they did not have an audit report that was due for delivery to them five days earlier. Yet that same afternoon, the Tampa Bay Times obtained a copy of the report and published an article …
By Jim Bleyer The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills is in the fight of its operational life in the wake of 12 resident deaths after Hurricane Irma in 2017. Its fate rests in the hands of an administrative law judge who must decide if the facility’s license and Medicaid …
By Jim Davison, Contributor The 1% Jeff Vinik-inspired sales tax increase propaganda machine is up and running. The misinformation campaign has started. The director of the Hillsborough County MPO, Beth Alden, told the Tampa City Council what the 1% sales tax would pay for in the MPO …
By Sharon Calvert, from Eye on Tampa Bay The Tampa Bay Times needs an intervention. The Times has reported more than 40 Hillsborough County schools desperately need new air conditioners. They recently published this article about the A/C issue, hot classrooms, and mold in schools. When Plant High School opened …
By Jim Bleyer The Tampa Bay Times once meant something in Hillsborough County despite its sparring with a credible rival in the Tampa Tribune. But that era ended years ago. Someone forgot to pass that info on to Times publisher Paul Tash …
By Jim Bleyer No one ever confused Peter Schorsch with Heywood Campbell Broun, Ernie Pyle, Nellie Bly, or even the rawest cub reporter. Schorsch is the St. Petersburg-based owner of Florida Politics, the widely acknowledged pay-for-play echo chamber for Florida politicians, political operatives, and lobbyists that lamely attempts to …
By Sharon Calvert, from Eye on Tampa Bay Five downtown Tampa special interests contributed $150,000 each to fund the “All for Transportation” (AFT) transit tax hike petition effort, literally buying their way onto the November ballot in Hillsborough County. The $750,000 was used to fast track a proposed massive …
By Jim Bleyer Susan Valdes, the early favorite in the Democratic primary race for Florida House District 62, has run a gaffe-riddled campaign but she won’t be branded the biggest loser if opponent Michael Alvarez pulls an upset next Tuesday. That honor will belong to outgoing State Rep. Janet …
By Jim Bleyer Hillsborough County voters have an easy decision Sept. 28 in the Florida House District 62 Democratic primary. The choice: A Marine veteran whose dedication to improving public education is widely admired or a controversial member of the school board beholden to special interests. Mike Alvarez, has …
By Karik Krishnaiyer, republished from The Florida Squeeze As we approach another party primary which has been divisive, the calls for unity and coming together are as loud and nauseating as ever. As a longtime active Democrat in Florida, I’ve sacrificed principle and my values before to back deeply-flawed …
By Jim Bleyer Bristol, FL—Declaring Florida’s Liberty County as sleepy surely is an understatement. Comatose would be a more accurate description of this rural outpost 50 miles west of Tallahassee. The Apalachicola National Forest provides a canopy of longleaf pine for fully half of Florida’s least populous county. Liberty …
By Jim Bleyer As far as we can determine, Hogan’s Heroes character Sgt. Schultz did not hold a law degree nor was he entrusted with protecting the public purse. But Janet Tashner, the state Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability’s General Counsel, apparently needs those qualifications for the …
By Dr. Jim Davison, from Eye on Tampa Bay Jeff Vinik, the former Boston-based hedge fund manager that reinvented himself in Tampa, and his cronies have bought their way onto the November ballot by spending more than a half million dollars. The Vinik referendum, if passed, would increase the …
By Sharon Calvert, from Eye on Tampa Bay The Vinik $15-18 Billion transit tax hike and the Chuck Sykes/District Rays Candidate Hagan billion dollar stadium have officially combined into one collaborative effort. The latest campaign filing found on the SOE website of Vinik’s transit tax hike All For Transportation (AFT) …
By Jim Bleyer The editorial recommendation of State Rep. Kathleen Peters for the Pinellas County Commission represents another #MeToo fail for the Tampa Bay Times. Peters, gal pal of disgraced predator, former State Sen. Jack Latvala, has been insensitive to the victims of sexual harassment but more than sympathetic to …
By Jim Bleyer A group of nationally recognized transportation experts Saturday lambasted a Hillsborough County special interest referendum calling for a one percent sales tax increase to finance a mishmosh of transit options including an obsolete light rail system. Four panel discussions with ten speakers were featured at a …
By Jim Bleyer With the 2018 general election just three months away, incumbent State Sen. Dana Young has taken to the hustings, appearing at panel discussions, campaign events, and fundraisers. Voters in Senate District 18 have been bombarded with Young campaign literature outlining her accomplishments in the Florida Legislature. …
